A Good Elf
by savedprincess85
Summary: Written for Round 11 of QLFC. Winky receives clothes, much to her dismay.


Round 11

Chaser 2: A character loses their powers (same suggestions as above-Super hero! AU, god/demi-god! AU, some sort of spell/curse, anything goes)

Bonus Prompts: Character: Colin Creevey, Song: On Top of the World by Rachel Bearer, Emotion: Anger

This will be an AU where if a house-elf is given clothes against their will, they lose all but basic magical abilities- meaning they can Apparate away (as protection from Muggles mostly) but the rest of their magical abilities are null and void. In order to get their abilities back, they must find a family willing to accept them and the elf accept them in return.

Also, anything in _Italics_ will be taken directly from Goblet of Fire- the book, because sadly they leave out house-elves from the movie.

Word Count: 1904

"_This means clothes,"_ Barty Crouch Senior growled slowly at Winky.

"_No!" shrieked Winky, prostrating herself at Mr. Crouch's feet. "No, Master! Not clothes! Not Clothes!"_

Fear gripped her heart. She knew she had failed her Master. She was not a dumb elf, but that failure would cost her everything. Clothes meant no more magic for elves. Winky had hoped that she would be able to bring Master Barty back before either could get into trouble, and she did. But he had made that terrible Mark in the air leading other wizards to them.

"Winky, come!" Master spoke once the other wizards left the clearing. She watched as he put the Imperius curse on his son, and they all Apparated home.

Her master stood, holding the arm of his son through the invisibility cloak. "Go to the kitchen. I will deal with you in a moment," he commanded her.

"Yes, Master," she squeaked and Apparated to the kitchen. Tears filled her eyes once again as she went to the oven and turned the heat very high and put her hands on the oven rack. Punishments needed to be full of pain as her mother had always said.

She felt the pain of her hands burning when her master entered the kitchen carrying a small bundle that looked suspiciously like clothes. Winky turned to her master and held up her hands for him to inspect, and begged, "Please, Master! I is sorry! I is punishing myself. Please, not clothes!"

"Winky, I'm sorry to have to do this, but you disobeyed me. You put the whole family at risk. Here are the clothes for you." He held out the clothes, and she saw they were a neat little skirt and blouse and a bright blue hat.

"But sir!" Tears poured from her eyes, and she held her hands behind her back to prevent him from giving the clothes to her.

"Winky, I order you to take these clothes and put them on. You are no longer my elf!" He waved his wand, healed her hands and waited for her to move to take the clothes.

Winky looked at her Master with wide eyes and moved slowly toward the clothes. As soon as her hands touched them, she felt her magic leave her. She wailed loudly as weakness filled her. Only the most basic of Apparition magic still existed in her, mostly to protect her from Muggles. Through her tears, she removed her toga—her mark of a respectable house-elf—for the last time. Putting the clothes on through her tears was difficult. Eventually, she placed the hat on her head and gave her Master one final look. "I is sorry, Master. Goodbye."

She Disappeared and Reappeared at the Three Broomsticks. She decided to stick close to wizarding establishments until she found a proper family, if she could find another family to take her in even though she had been disgraced.

Since it was still summer, school was not in session, so the tavern was very quiet. She walked up to Madame Rosmerta, whom she had met once when picking up an order for her Master. If nothing else, she could work to drown her sorrows in Butterbeer. That sounded lovely right now, to forget the pain of disappointing her Master. She dried her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Miss, I is looking for working and a place to stay. Do you need help, Miss?"

Rosmerta stopped cleaning the bar and gazed at the little elf. "No. I have no need for a disgraced house-elf. Go up to Hogwarts. Dumbledore may have use for you."

Winky had been living in the kitchens of Hogwarts for three months, but refused to wear the Hogwarts Crest even though that would allow her magic to return; she would keep the dress of her Master until it fell off her. The students had returned, but she didn't care. She served, and when she was done with the most menial tasks, she drank herself to oblivion. Dobby made sure she made it back to her bed at the end of the day. The other elves shunned her and only gave her the worst tasks to complete.

Dumbledore had been kind enough to give her a job in the kitchens, but she didn't want to be here. She didn't want to be paid to work. The kitchens were loud and busy unlike Master Barty's house. Being at Hogwarts was safer than being out in the world, but she couldn't accept her lot in the world. She still wanted to go back and take care of her master. He needed her.

"Winky, you is not being a good elf. You can ask for paying now. Dumbledore will be paying you. No more drinking, Winky," Dobby pleaded with her as she started drinking late one night.

"I is a bad elf, Dobby, but you is worse! You is wanting paying! I will never be wanting paying. That is stooping low, Dobby! That is low for house-elf. I don't want to bes here! I is wanting to go back to my Master!" Winky screamed in outrage at her free friend.

Dobby shook his head. "Harry Potter saved me from bad wizards! I is wanting paying because I is working hard. I is a proud elf! No more drinking, Winky. You is not need to drink." He tugged the bottle, but Winky was holding too tightly, resulting in Butterbeer spilling all over her clothes.

"I is sorry, Winky," he apologized as he pulled a towel from his pocket to help clean up the mess.

"Stop! Dobby, leave me alone! I want to drink in peace and forget that I have no Master!" Winky turned and ran straight into the head house-elf.

Disdain filled his voice as he ordered the sopping wet elf. "Winky, you is to clean the Gryffindor common room alone. There is clothes everywhere. Someone is wanting to free us! Yours job is to protect the other elves from freedom." The head elf turned to Dobby and ordered, "The new Defence teacher is requesting you to cleans the Professors' lounge area. I is expecting you both to do your jobs well, free elves or not."

Dobby hopped up in excitement. "Of course, sir! I will go now." And Disappeared from the warm kitchens.

"I is going," Winky said reluctantly as she looked down at her still dripping garments. She dabbed at the skirt and blouse to dry it as best she could. No need to create more work for her to do, she thought. After collecting her cleaning supplies, she Disappeared and Reappeared in the corner of the Gryffindor common room.

The room was a wreck—papers and opened books covered nearly every table, and a few had fallen on the floor. Underneath were knitted hats and socks that were left for the elves to find. With a sigh at the idea that anyone would want to put any house-elf through the disgrace of losing most of their powers, she began cleaning up.

A quiet snore alerted her that she was not alone in the room. A young boy lay on the couch with a Charms book open on his chest and a parchment clutched in his hand that was under his cheek. Winky realized he must have fallen asleep sitting up because his neck was turned in such a way as to never be comfortable except to the most exhausted.

The boy reminded her of Master Barty, always working so very hard and never getting enough rest. She weighed her options, and although the mark of a good house-elf was to not be seen, she also knew that the boy would wake with a crick in his neck. She could help him by waking him up and sending him to bed.

Winky walked quietly to the boy and tugged the book gently from his hands. He jumped up in alarm at feeling the book leave his hand. "What? What's going on?" the boy asked alarmed.

"Sir, you is sleeping on the couch. You should be in your bed like a good boy," she admonished gently.

"Who are you?" he asked her looking at her with confusion.

She smiled. "I is Winky the house-elf. I is cleaning the common room."

"I'm Colin Creevey. I've never met a House-elf before, but I probably wouldn't since I'm a Muggleborn." He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. "I fell asleep studying for my Charms test. I'm going to fail, I just know it."

Winky looked at the boy and remembered all the times years ago that she had helped Master Barty with his Charms homework.

Colin looked at the little elf with hope in his eyes. "Do you know anything about Charms? I really need help. Would you quiz me on chapter three?"

The desire to help, to serve this boy was hard to dismiss from her mind. The pull towards the Butterbeer that was waiting for her in the kitchen was getting weaker. She could take this little step in becoming a good and respectable house-elf again.

"Yes, I is willing to quiz you," Winky said slowly as she took the proffered textbook from the boy. His eyes lit up with excitement and nodded his head. The first small smile in three months bloomed on Winky's face.

Winky helped her new friend for a few hours before informing him he was ready for his test and ushered him upstairs to sleep for a few hours. She finished cleaning the common room without magic but felt far happier than she had ever thought she would feel again.

In the early hours of the morning, she went to sleep with a small smile, remembering the brilliance in Colin's eyes as he'd grasped a particularly difficult concept. She was becoming a good house-elf again.

Later the next evening, the elf was sent yet again to Gryffindor Tower to clean when Dobby was missing from his duties. The grumbling of the head elf was enough to send Winky to clean quickly. In the back of her mind, she hoped to see Colin again.

She Appeared in the common room, and yet again it was covered in clutter and knitted hats. Cleaning was becoming a happier duty. She didn't even think of the possibility of returning to her cubicle and drinking herself to oblivion. Slowly, she was beginning to feel like a good elf again.

A quiet snore alerted her to the presence of a student sleeping on the couches. She moved around the one that was facing the fireplace and found Colin asleep in much the same position she'd found him in the night before.

"Mr. Colin, wake up!" she quietly spoke as she poked his arm.

He jumped up and looked around him with alarm. "Winky! I'm so glad you woke me! I got an Exceeds Expectations on my test! Thank you so much for helping me!" In his exuberance, he pulled her into a hug.

She may be a house-elf without a family to serve, but she had served this boy in a way that felt like being a good elf.

"You is welcome, Mr. Colin," she said as she patted his back. Maybe, she could be a Hogwarts House-elf and get her powers back. Winky wasn't quite ready for it yet, but she was closer than she had been to accepting Hogwarts as her home.


End file.
